Tuesday, September 11, 2012

2012 Tahoe Fat Tire Fest Info

Mountain bikers from all over will come to Squaw Valley from September 20-23, 2012 for the return of the Tahoe Fat Tire Festival. Formerly one of the largest mountain bike events on the west coast, the festival is being brought back by the Truckee Trails Foundation and Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association in an effort to promote the Tahoe area and to create a fundraising event to support trail projects.

Presented by New Belgium Brewing, Barefoot Wines and the North Lake Tahoe Convention and Visitors Bureau, the festival will include five race events, a mountain bike stage race, group mountain bike rides, skill clinics, vendors, movies, trail work classes, and music. Squaw Valley will be opening its bike park and trail network for the four days of the festival.

The festival kicks off Thursday night with the exciting GoTahoeNorth.com Short Track race through the Village at Squaw Valley. Friday brings the Pearl Izumi Mountain Hillclimb race from the Village to High Camp. Saturday will host both the Sierra Cup Regional Championship Series Cross-Country event presented by the Reno Wheelmen and the NorCal State Downhill Championships presented by Royal Racing. The Festival wraps up on Sunday with a Super-D race featuring over 2000' of descending. There is excellent spectator viewing for all events from the KT Sundeck.

During the Festival, there also will be group rides both on and off-site with shuttles by Tahoe Mountain Guides, beginner and intermediate skill clinics, a mountain bike film festival presented by Yelo Velo, and trail work classes with the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew on the Western States Trail. The Tahoe Sierra Century road ride on Saturday also is based out of Squaw Valley.